Deutsche Telekom upgrades 2.6M customers to IP technology, sets pace for vectored DSL

Deutsche Telekom continues to make good on its all-IP network promise, moving nearly 3 million of its customers to the technology.

The telco said that it plans to upgrade all 20 million of its connections to IP technology by the year 2018. IP technology forms the foundation for Deutsche Telekom to deploy vectoring technology with VDSL2, two technologies that will enable it to deliver up to 100 Mbps broadband speeds on the existing copper network beginning in the second half of this year.

"We have already migrated 2.6 million customers to all-IP in Germany, which translates into over 21% of our broadband [subscribers] and almost 13% of all our fixed lines being migrated to all-IP already," said Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, during the first-quarter earnings call. "Currently, we are migrating at a speed of roughly 45,000 to 50,000 customers per week in Germany."

In December 2012, the company said it would spend €6 billion ($7.9 billion) to build out a fiber to the cabinet (FTTC) network to expand download speeds on its copper lines from 50 to 100 Mbps.

Thus far, its hybrid fiber to the node (FTTN)-based VDSL2 and fiber to the home (FTTH) services continue to grow. During the quarter it added a total of 222,000 new lines, up from 156,000 in the same period a year ago. Fiber-based broadband coverage grew from 34 percent to 38 percent year-on-year.

Out of this group, 93,000 came from the wholesale sector, mainly due to the success of what the service provider said is the contingent model. Total fiber-optic lines increased by 53 percent within one year to over 1.7 million.

Despite the progress it made with its fiber-based broadband products, it still lost 7,000 broadband customers overall. The network buildout has gained further momentum: Coverage with fiber-optic lines grew from 34 percent to 38 percent year-on-year

For more:
- see the earnings transcript (sub. req.)
- and the earnings release

Related articles:
Deutsche Telekom gets regulatory clearance for vectored VDSL services
VDSL2 with bonding or vectoring - Top wireline technologies in 2013
Deutsche Telekom mulls vectored DSL
Deutsche Telekom to bring FTTH to apartment complexes
Deutsche Telekom conducts 512G transmission experiment